Deposit Checks to PayPal by Taking iPhone Pics

[Paul Daniel Ash]

Version 2.7 of PayPal's iPhone app has added a the capability of depositing a check by taking a picture of it with your phone: no trip to the ATM. Of course, the check ends up in your PayPal account, not your bank account, and will take up to a week to process. Still, given how many sites - and increasingly, real-world stores - accept PayPal, this is a major step forward in making your iPhone your wallet.

You sign the check as you normally do, then take a picture of the front and the back with your phone. The app uses the images to submit the check wirelessly to the same clearing process used in scanner-equipped ATMs, and after it clears it is added to your PayPal balance without any fees being taken out for the service. PayPal says to hang onto your physical check for two weeks, though… just in case. “Our concept is that you basically carry around access to your wallet in your phone,” PayPal’s vice president of platform and mobile Osama Bedier told the Wall Street Journal. “The mobile phone is the first computer that lets you take the Internet with you,” he added. PayPal has been working hard to add flexibility to their iPhone app: ever since 2.0 you've been able to transfer money to another PayPal user by bumping phones: the accelerometer registers the bump and sends it to PayPal's server, which verifies the other phone by comparing the time and the GPS locations of the two devices.

The basic idea is not a new one: USAA has had a similar app for over a year ago, and Chase recently rolled out their own. USAA, which doesn't have real-world locations, also allows you to scan checks from home and submit them over the Internet. However, PayPal's size and reach means that a lot more people will be able to take advantage of this payment system, which will spread acceptance of the idea of getting paid, as well as paying, through your iPhone.

PayPal's Bedier also told the Journal that they are looking at replacing all kinds of transactions with smartphone apps, like avoiding the need to type in your sixteen-digit credit card number every time you want to make a purchase. "Consumers hate entering things into phones," he said, and so PayPal is looking at a way to use the camera to scan in your number and expiration date so that you can add to your account balance or make a payment through PayPal. "The camera is a great way to avoid the text entry process," he said.

Source: Mashable

[Ruthless Killa8]

Wow this is great, especially since I have a check that I'm too lazy to take to the bank

[JLick]

Amazing. I figure the iPT4 counts too ye?

[d1sposition]

What is the point of adding money to your paypal account when your bank account is typically already linked to your paypal? Whenever you want to make a purchase using paypal, it just withdrawals the money from your bank anyway... I guess it could be useful for people who have banks that don't have the ability to deposit a check from your phone. They could just use the paypal app then transfer the funds to their bank... I guess...

[ThinkTank]

how about I take a picture of cash and they deposit it in my account :-). Now that will be nice!!

[soulthoughts]

I like this. I wish my bank did this too.

[vantheman169]

I have USAA BANK and they have a free app i can transfer money and pay bills and deposit checks right from my iphone, and they have had this app for about a year now, i LOVE IT! Just deposited 2 checks yesterday =)

[JLick]

how about I take a picture of cash and they deposit it in my account :-). Now that will be nice!!

Wireless transfer of cash instantly from my bed would be nice.

I mean from pocket to account ofc.

[jiggyjae]

Whoever came up with this concept was a genius.

[thevmax]

how about I take a picture of cash and they deposit it in my account :-). Now that will be nice!!

Now we're talkin'!!

[CZroe]

Why obscure the balance in the screen grab? It's not like we can't mostly make it out still (looks like $1,784.22).

What is the point of adding money to your paypal account when your bank account is typically already linked to your paypal? Whenever you want to make a purchase using paypal, it just withdrawals the money from your bank anyway... I guess it could be useful for people who have banks that don't have the ability to deposit a check from your phone. They could just use the paypal app then transfer the funds to their bank... I guess...

Exactly. Think about people accepting checks at swap meets and flea markets. They can now accept payments on the spot without a credit card or a credit card fee.

Whoever came up with this concept was a genius.

I've heard radio commercials for one or more banks or credit unions in SoCal that do just that. IIRC, I've been hearing them over a year.

[iLoveWindows&iPhone]

I really hope Wells Fargo adds this to their app.....How is it that paypal is so far ahead of the big national banks??

[Zenitram]

Why obscure the balance in the screen grab? It's not like we can't mostly make it out still (looks like $1,784.22).

I thought the same thing, but people get weird with money. If it was $5.00 or $11,000 you'd have people saying all sorts of stuff.

[Rob2G]

That's a great addition.

[Nefarious]

Very handy for small business owners. I have a friend that owns a contract lawn company and takes paypal from his website for invoices he sends out. Being able to stop by the accounts payable office and snap a pic of a check just makes it's easier and he doesn't get hit with the transaction fee they tack on.

[goodluck4287]

Don't worry, ebay and paypal are great at accepting money.

I sold an iPhone on EBay to a buyer outside of the country with great feedback... claimed he never received it 2 months later. Ebay has decided that I have to pay them reimbursement for the Phone (in addition to me having the phone lost/stolen in transport), they want me to pay paypal fees, ebay fees and shipping fees. So instead of turning my old iPhone 3G into $250, my transaction cost me over $550. **** ebay and paypal.

[madczech]

Don't worry, ebay and paypal are great at accepting money.

I sold an iPhone on EBay to a buyer outside of the country with great feedback... claimed he never received it 2 months later. Ebay has decided that I have to pay them reimbursement for the Phone (in addition to me having the phone lost/stolen in transport), they want me to pay paypal fees, ebay fees and shipping fees. So instead of turning my old iPhone 3G into $250, my transaction cost me over $550. **** ebay and paypal.

thats why you get insurance for your shipping...

[spideyrules]

I just happened to have a check in my wallet from Vegas this past weekend, and I'm trying out the service.

I hope it works since my bank doesn't have this feature (I hope they jump on this bandwagon soon).

[Waleed786]

And tracking. It's all in the eBay policy.
What if u scanned the check with paypal and then deposited it in ur bank at the same time..is it possible to get double money? They would probably cancel one once they find out, but it is possible right

[Ivel]

$1784.22 hehehehe